Portuguese

Onde a terra se acaba e o mar começa...

If you want to know how the life where the land ends and the sea begins looks it’s high time to take up Portugese.

That’s where the old world ended, where the brave sailors sailed off seeking the new. And that’s how a small country on the west outskirts of Iberian Peninsula turned into the imperial power to become only (or as much as) the Europe’s farthest extremity.

Portugal is not only a narrow strip of land glued to Spain, quite the contrary – it’s utterly different from it. Not only its language sounds differently (although it’s pretty close to Spanish as a matter of fact), so folksy-like resembling Slavic tones with its crispiness and crackles. It’s culture bears the mark of distinctiveness as well. It’s for a reason, that the most important and hardly translatable Portuguese word is saudade, which can be, simplifying, brought to a longing. A nostalgia not only for what has passed but also for what is to come. This overwhelming melancholy is something what apparently distinguishes Portugal from Spain. Fado seems to be its most precise manifest (you certainly won’t miss it during our classes). At the same time one can’t say the Portuguese lack typical southern joy and recklessness, which is mirrored among other things by their admiration of food:)

You’ll surely find out how to prepare a traditional cod (and maybe even you’ll have the opportunity to prepare it for yourself)for several reasons (they say there’s 365 ways to do it).You’ll make a virtual trip to the famous Lisboan calçadas with Fernando Pessoa and listen to the ocean’s waves hum. Just an easy step to falling in love…